EAST LANSING - What sets the Great Lakes Folks Festival apart from many other festivals and fairs is the special fusion of culture, tradition and community.

The Michigan State University Museum-produced event on Aug. 9-11 in downtown East Lansing is all about roots.

“Campus and Community” programs will explore the way MSU works with communities. For example, sessions include information on Michigan's Bald Eagle population recovery, fair trade and sustainability, MSU Student Organic Farms, and Native American early childhood education. MSU faculty and students lead the programming.

Another interesting development is the participation of the traveling Midwest Folklife Festival this year. The Festival rotates annually among the partnering states, and this year it brings several artists to the GLFF.

Those will include weavers with Laotian and Hawaiian roots, a native American stone carver and an African American quiltmaker.

Meanwhile, the GLFF music and dance program features performances ranging from Celtic, bluegrass, Slovenian polka, contra dance, the blues, Cajun, Balkan, Hmong and more.

Other events: The 2013 Michigan Heritage Awards annually takes place at the festival, honoring the top tradition-bearers. The Taste of Traditions Foodways offers authentic regional and ethnic food.

Go to the GLFF website for a complete schedule of activities and performer biographies.

The festival site — across the street from the MSU campus — spans the downtown core of the city. Admission is free, but you'll see plenty of volunteers, called the bucket brigade, who will give you a sticker in exchange for a donation.

The Great Lakes Folk Festival is presented by the Michigan State University Museum, Michigan's first Smithsonian affiliate. The MSU Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program researches, documents, preserves and presents our shared heritage and cultural expressions.